Stockport Council is expected to call on Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to address a deficit in local government funding.

In a full council meeting tomorrow (16 November), a motion will be moved by Lib Dem councillor Alex Wynne, calling on the Chancellor to fund the existing local government deficit, and to ensure that funding continues in future.

It comes just before the Chancellor's Autumn Statement on November 22, in which he will provide updates on the country's financial plans.

However, although the motion will come before Stockport Council, it is not necessarily Stockport-centric - rather, it reflects widespread concern among local authorities across the country.

Local governments - including Stockport - are calling on the Chancellor to address the local government deficit in his upcoming Autumn Statement (Image - Wikimedia Commons / Number 10)

In an open letter to the Chancellor, the Local Government Authority (LGA) - speaking on behalf of local authorities across the country - said: "Councils are facing ongoing inflationary and pay pressures alongside a spike in demand in areas such as children's and adult's social care. [...]

"Without national government intervention there will be a marked decline in local service provision across the country and a failure of many councils to meet their statutory obligations."

The overtures to the Chancellor focus on:

• Children's social care
• Increasing costs of homelessness (i.e asylum and resettlement)
• Escalating costs of school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities

The LGA continues: "These pressing challenges [...] require immediate support from Government alongside a broader set of actions to secure the long-term financial sustainability of the sector.

"Councils' financial pressures and needs must be seen in the context of the huge contribution that councils already make and of their potential to do more to support the delivery of public services."

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